1. Introduction to Analysis Services 2008 R2 Cubes
SQL Saturday #64
Baton Rouge, 2011
06 August, 2011

2. Presenter Introduction
Peter Myers
Mentor, SolidQ
BBus, MCITP (Dev, DBA, BI), MCT, MVP
14 years of experience designing and developing software solutions using Microsoft products, today specializing in Microsoft Business Intelligence
Based in San Francisco
© 2011 SolidQ

3. Agenda Introducing OLAP Databases Introducing Analysis Services
Querying the UDM
Enriching the UDM
A Message to Developers
Next Generation OLAP From Microsoft
Resources
© 2011 SolidQ

4. Introducing OLAP Databases
Contain queryable structures called cubes
Cubes:
Are optimized for rapid ad hoc information retrieval
Include a calculation engine for fast, flexible transformation of base data
Encapsulate business rules, calculations and actions
Can be translated to different languages
Promote self-service reporting and analysis
© 2011 SolidQ

5. What sales did we expect to achieve in North America for CY 2004 Q1?
Querying the Cube
What sales did we expect to achieve in North America for CY 2004 Q1?
20,500
© 2011 SolidQ

6. Business Scenarios Sales analysis
Budgeting and forecast collection and reporting
Financial reporting
Web statistics analysis
Survey results analysis
Or, any scenario involving aggregated data that needs to be queried fast and flexibly at different levels of summarization
© 2011 SolidQ

7. Introducing Analysis Services
OLAP component
Aggregates and organizes data from business data sources
Performs calculations difficult to perform using relational queries
Supports advanced Business Intelligence, including Key Performance Indicators
Provides a business semantic model referred to as the Unified Dimensional Model (UDM)
Data mining component
Discovers patterns in both relational and OLAP data
Enhances the OLAP component with discovered results
© 2011 SolidQ

8. Introducing the UDM
Provides a bridge between the end user and the data sources
Consolidates business rules into a single model
Challenges traditional models
Commonly called a Cube
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9. DEMONSTRATION
Browsing a Cube
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10. Querying the UDM
Cubes are queried with MDX – Multi Dimensional Expressions
Microsoft provide four possibilities for business users to query cubes without the need to know MDX:
Microsoft Office Excel
PivotTables
Free-Form (CUBE functions)
SharePoint Server Excel Services
SQL Server Reporting Services
SharePoint Server PerformancePoint Services
Analytic Chart and Grid reports
© 2011 SolidQ

11. DEMONSTRATIONS Ad hoc Cube Analysis with Excel
[Cube Reporting with Reporting Services]
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12. DEMONSTRATION
Developing a UDM
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13. Enriching the UDM The UDM can be enriched with: Calculations
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Actions
Partitions
Translations
© 2011 SolidQ

14. DEMONSTRATION
Enriching a UDM
© 2011 SolidQ

15. A Message to Developers
Unleash the data in your applications to support richer reporting and analysis
Reduce the need to develop extensive libraries of reports
Produce rich libraries of resources that leverage:
The Excel client
SharePoint Excel Services
Reporting Services
SharePoint PerformancePoint Services
Promote self-service reporting and analytics
© 2011 SolidQ

16. Next Generation OLAP From Microsoft
Microsoft have recently announced a new direction for data models in Analysis Services in SQL Server Code Name “Denali”
The UDM will be just one of three approaches to produce a multidimensional model (cube)
Named the BI Semantic Model, it will support multidimensional and tabular development approaches
Watch the TechEd North America video What's New in Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" for SQL Server Analysis Services and PowerPivot
© 2011 SolidQ

17. Resources
Links to technical resources, case studies, news, and reviews
“Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Step by Step”, by Scott Cameron (Microsoft Press)
“Microsoft SQL Server 2008 MDX Step by Step”, by Bryan Smith et al. (Microsoft Press)
Use to locate:
SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Training Kit
Contains a rich set of presentations, demos, hands-on labs and videos that are perfect for self-paced learning or for conducting your own training
© 2011 SolidQ

18. Thank you!
© 2011 SolidQ